Precautions

Your doctor will want to check your progress at regular visits to see if the medicine is working properly and to decide if you should continue to receive it.

Your doctor will check your blood, urine, and blood pressure on a regular basis while you are receiving this medicine. You may also need to monitor your blood pressure at home. If you notice any changes to your normal blood pressure, call your doctor right away.

Make sure your doctor knows if you or your partner are planning to become pregnant. This medicine may cause fertility problems for men and women. You must use an effective form of birth control while you are receiving the medicine and for at least 3 months after the last dose. Talk to your doctor about effective birth control.

This medicine may increase your chance of having bleeding problems. Call your doctor right away if you notice any signs of bleeding, such as bloody or black, tarry stools, blood in the urine, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, or vomiting of blood that looks like coffee grounds.

Call your doctor right away if you have severe diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or stomach pain. These may be symptoms of a serious stomach problem.

This medicine may affect the way your body heals from cuts and wounds. Make sure any doctor or dentist who treats you knows that you are using this medicine. You may need to stop using this medicine several weeks before having surgery.

Check with your doctor right away if you have a headache, seizures, confusion, blurred vision or other visual problems. These may be symptoms of a rare and serious brain condition called reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS).

Ziv-aflibercept can temporarily lower the number of white blood cells in your blood, increasing the chance of getting an infection. It can also lower the number of platelets, which are necessary for proper blood clotting. If this occurs, there are certain precautions you can take, especially when your blood count is low, to reduce the risk of infection or bleeding:

If you can, avoid people with infections. Check with your doctor immediately if you think you are getting an infection or if you get a fever or chills, cough or hoarseness, lower back or side pain, or painful or difficult urination.

Check with your doctor immediately if you start to cough up blood or if you notice any unusual bleeding or bruising, black, tarry stools, blood in the urine or stools, or pinpoint red spots on your skin.

Be careful when using a regular toothbrush, dental floss, or toothpick. Your medical doctor, dentist, or nurse may recommend other ways to clean your teeth and gums. Check with your medical doctor before having any dental work done.

Do not touch your eyes or the inside of your nose unless you have just washed your hands and have not touched anything else in the meantime.

Be careful not to cut yourself when you are using sharp objects such as a safety razor or fingernail or toenail cutters.

Avoid contact sports or other situations where bruising or injury could occur.